Israel-Hamas War: Timeline and Key Developments

More than a month after Hamas terrorists launched an unprecedented surprise attack on Israel and infiltrated the country by air, land and sea on Oct. 7, the region stands on high alert amid fears of a wider conflict and thousands dead on both sides of the Israel-Gaza border.

According to the Israeli prime minister's office, more than 1,200 people have been killed in Israel, with 6,900 others injured. Israeli officials say 383 Israel Defense Forces soldiers have been killed since Oct. 7, including 68 since the ground campaign began.

On Nov. 22, Israel's Cabinet approved a deal that would allow for the release of at least 50 hostages -- women and children -- over the course of a four-day pause in fighting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. As a part of this deal, 150 Palestinian prisoners will also be released by Israel. Netanyahu said in a release the "Israeli government has approved the outline to the first phase" of bringing hostages home.

Three Americans -- including a 3-year-old -- are expected to be part of the initial group of hostages that will be released, according to a senior administration official. The deal was negotiated between Hamas, Israel, Qatar and the United States. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Nov. 12 at least nine Americans remain unaccounted for. Israeli officials have said Hamas is believed to be holding 236 hostages in Gaza.

The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry says at least 14,532 people have been killed in Gaza amid Israel's retaliatory campaign and ground operations began. More than 35,000 have been injured, the ministry says, with almost 1.5 million people displaced, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. As of Nov. 3, 67% of all deaths in Gaza were made up of women and children while thousands more have been injured, according to several U.N. agencies, including the UNRWA. In the West Bank, about 215 people have been killed and more than 2,500 injured, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

Israeli and U.S. officials have said the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry inflates the number of civilian casualties, with Netanyahu having said thousands of the dead are Hamas terrorists.

The conflict was touched off a month ago by the sneak attack, which included thousands of armed Hamas terrorists breaching a border security fence separating Gaza from Israel, and indiscriminately torturing and gunning down Israeli civilians in their homes, also attacking soldiers, caught off guard, on military bases. Other militants stormed beaches in Israel on motorboats. And some brought death from the sky, paragliding into Israel, to launch a barbaric attack at an open-air music festival that had been billed as a celebration of "unity and love."

In the immediate aftermath of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, which also included thousands of missiles launched at Israel from the Gaza Strip, the IDF began its campaign of retaliation, bombarding Gaza with airstrikes. Israel soon vowed to eradicate Hamas, the terrorist organization that runs Gaza and is believed to operate with the backing of Iran.

Here are the key developments that have happened so far in the war:

A barrage of rockets

Oct. 7, 6:30 a.m. in Israel

Air raid sirens begin sounding in Jerusalem around 6:30 a.m. local time, warning citizens of the attack in progress and to immediately take cover. An estimated 2,200 rockets were fired toward southern and central Israel, including Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, by the Hamas militants, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

Armed Hamas terrorists, many on motorcycles, storm blockaded areas, shooting at and slaughtering people in kibbutzim and small towns. Video footage surfaces of Hamas militants taking Israeli citizens -- including mothers, small children and the elderly -- hostage and carrying them across the Gaza border.

Oct. 7, shortly after the attack begins

Mohammed Deif, commander in chief of Hamas' military arm, Al Qassam Brigades, releases a video statement claiming responsibility for the attack.

'Israel is at war'

Israeli jet fighters launch retaliatory strikes in Gaza. Video surfaces of a high-rise residential building and the Al-Sousi Mosque in Gaza City being bombed and flattened.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tells his country, "Israel is at war."

President Joe Biden tells Netanyahu in a phone call that the United States "condemns" Hamas' assault and has Israel's back. In a televised address from the White House, Biden says, "Israel has a right to defend itself and its people."

Oct. 8

At least 30 Israeli police officers are killed in the fighting, mainly in Sderot, Israel, where Hamas gunmen took control of the police station.

Israeli officials announce that fighting is ongoing in six places, including Sderot -- which sits just 2 miles from the border with Gaza -- and that a rocket injured four people.

Videos posted online show a packed all-night music festival in a desert in southern Israel near the Gaza border being attacked by rockets and armed Hamas militants on the ground. The footage shows women and children among those being dragged away in vehicles and driven back into Gaza. Israeli rescue service Zaka says at least 260 bodies were removed from the venue following the attack.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken tells ABC's "This Week" anchor George Stephanopoulos that the U.S. has pledged its full support to Israel and says, "The world should be revolted at what it's seen."

Oct. 9, morning

Air sirens sound in northern Israel, prompting residents to rush to safe rooms. The IDF claimed at least two rockets were fired toward northern Israel from Lebanon. One of the rockets, according to the IDF, landed in Lebanese territory.

"The IDF neutralized a number of terrorist infiltrators who crossed from Lebanon into Israel. We are defending our country and stand ready on all borders," the IDF says in a statement.

An official with the U.S. National Security Council confirms there were nine Americans killed in Israel. The death toll would continue to climb.

The IDF announces its jet fighters struck 130 targets in the Gaza Strip, and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant orders a "complete siege" of Gaza, cutting electricity to the region and blocking fuel and food from entering the territory from Israel.

The IDF announces it has mobilized 300,000 reserves -- the largest and quickest call-up in Israel's history.

Hamas says it will start killing Israeli hostages one by one, threatening to film the executions, unless Israel immediately stops shelling homes in Gaza without warning.